The characteristics of art that seem the most prevalent during the Renaissance are Classical Revival (going back to Greek and Roman times for the subject matter and inspiration), Humanism (the idea that humans are focus), Window of Nature (the idea of including nature in the pieces), Syncretism ...

Natural Context: environment in which the art was made Despite its religious subject matter and location in the Renaissance tradition of papal patronage of art, Michelangelo's sprawling fresco across the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican impresses many contemporary viewers with its visu...

“The greatest artist has no conception which a single block of marble does not potentially contain within its mass, but only a hand obedient to the mind can penetrate to this image.” ~ Michelangelo Buonarroti Michelangelo describes in the above quote what it is like to carve a lik...

The Renaissance was a time of learning and culture exchange. Many people discovered what it was like to be someone else. Many others discovered ideas and doctrines and spread them throughout the world. In this time period, people learned to care and give more importance to improvement in society tha...

Charlotte Dean H2G-06/pd. 3 Mr. Valentin April 10, 2000 Artistic Innovations of Renaissance Florentine Painters During the Renaissance, many new, different styles of painting were developed. Many of these techniques were perfected by Florentine painters. Some of these styles techniq...

"The greatest artist has no conception which a single block of marble does not potentially contain within its mass, but only a hand obedient to the mind can penetrate to this image." ~ Michelangelo Buonarroti Michelangelo described in the above quote what it is like to carve a likeness of a perso...

Originally named Tommaso Giovanni di Mone, Masaccio was born in San Giovanni Valdarno, near Florence, on December 21, 1401, and died in Rome in 1428. He was the first great painter of the Italian Renaissance, whose innovations in using scientific perspective introduced the modern style in painting. ...

Each day hundreds of tourists flock to the Louvre Museum in Paris to admire the most famous painting in the world, the "Mona Lisa." This artist's legacy lives today as his creations continue to inspire artists, scientists, and the common man even four hundred years after his death. This arti...

The great age of the Renaissance was a time when old beliefs were tested. It was a period of intellectual ferment that prepared the ground for the thinkers and scientists of the 17th century. It was an age that bore many great artists, including two of history's most renowned: Leonardo da Vinci and...

In the Florence Cathedral, Florence, Italy, there is a cathedral church whose octagonal dome, built without the aid of scaffolding, was considered the greatest engineering feat of the early Renaissance. Dedicated to Santa Maria del Fiore, Our Lady of the Flower, it is also known as the Duomo, af...

The Renaissance was a period in history when many different ideas from all across Europe came together in a gigantic reaction to the Dark Ages. A major part of this revolutionary movement is art. Society in Europe, during the Renaissance period, was controlled by the church. This belief at this time...

From 1300 to 1600, Europe saw the Renaissance, the rebirth of art and learning. Worldliness was a key part of their artwork through the individualism shown in the portraits with earthly backgrounds and through the glorification the human body. Realism was a major part of the artwork; a lot of at...

If one were to be asked if Michelangelo's life affected his work, I would have to say yes and that would be saying it in the least. All of Michelangelo's work was based on his life from childhood up to six days before his death. Michelangelo Buonarroti was born on March 6, 1475 in the v...

Governing countries and states properly has been a difficult task from the beginning of time. In every country there will be people to who are unhappy and will disagree with your rule, causing your system to fail. So, century after century, people have tried new ways to make their politics s...

Michelangelo Buonarroti was one of the best artists of all history. The word "masterpiece" comes to mind with a mention of his name. Michelangelo's artwork was like none other as it captures the amazing beauty of the human condition. Michelangelo worked in a time of conflict betwee...

The master figure of Elizabethan drama is Machiavelli. He was only known through the French of Gentillet, if that: but he was the great character of supreme intrigue that, however taken, was at the back of every tudor mind. Elizabethan drama--"the first terror-stricken meeting of the England of Eli...

Filippo Brunelleschi was the son of a well-known attorney in Florence. So at a young age, his father taught him how to read and write and know arithmetic. Since he thought Filippo would become an attorney like himself, he saw to it that he read many books on many different subjects. However, since...

When one thinks of a great painter, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, scientist, an intelligent man, and a well-rounded person, Leonardo da Vinci is a perfect example. With his precise drawings, anatomical studies of people, animals, and plants, studies of astronomy, geology, geometry and opt...

Giotto, a pre-Renaissance artist and architect, was born 20 miles North of Florence Italy in the valley of the Mugello - it was described by his admirer John Ruskin as a lonely landscape. There were rugged mountains, rough ground, and olive trees. There were no gardens or lush landscapes for Giott...

Mona Lisa Artist, originator, and unique Renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci, began painting his portrayal of an Italian nobleman's wife in 1503 and completed it a number of years later, possibly around 1507. The painting was initially a custom-built work, but da Vinci didn't sell it to the man who ...

Michelangelo's Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici One of the most famous artists ever known since the 16th century is a man by the name of Michelangelo Buonarroti. He has composed art that is both breathtaking and unmatched in such skills as painting, sculpture, architecture and poetry. Som...

For close to five hundred years, the name Niccolo Machiavelli has held a place in history and in philosophy that has been hotly debated for centuries. Some say that Machiavelli is the true statesman and his books hold the key to the most efficient form of governing, while others call him a barbaric ...

Botticelli is one of the most famous artists during the Italian Renaissance. He was very well know for the portrayal of the female figure and his ability to incorporate femininity as a symbol of life itself and/or nature illustrated by the changes of seasons. Botticelli most famous figure was ...